Dear Editor:
Just read your Don’t Hail Ride-sharing as a Saviour, Aug. 24 Grinding Gears column by Brendan McAleer.
From my experience, you are dead wrong and your column is part of the problem as are your pie in the sky solutions (hydrogen transit/bikes/trams).
On the North Shore we are spread out and our population is aging. It rains a lot. My wife can no longer drive. Getting a taxi at the house is a crap shoot; getting one on Marine Drive after an appointment almost impossible. And if I got a dollar for every time the Blue Bus went by “sorry ... full” I’d be rich!
In Palm Desert (where we winter) and San Francisco (where our daughter is) Uber is clean, efficient, inexpensive ... a joy to use. We often ride share and meet new people.
And they do bring much needed additional income to people who work hard, show up on time in clean cars (you rate the driver and car instantly and rudeness or unsafe driving means automatic dismissal).
Of course it’s not a “saviour”: FYI there is no saviour out there, just good ideas that make life a little easier and Uber is one.
Liam Murray
West Vancouver
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